From the Editor's Desk: Doing a good thing badly

There's a reason why I tend to post stories on Google+ about the traditional journalism industry. For one, it's where I came from. There are days I miss it. But there are so many more days that I don't. Another reason is that what we do here is rooted in it. Not just us, but every tech blog, regardless of its background.

But really, for me, this job is fun. And we try to keep it that way. Make no mistake, we're writing about phones here. Hardly life-and-death stuff. But it's still important, and it's still challenging. Deciding what to write. Editing it into a cohesive story. Coming up with compelling illustrations. And that final moment where you hit the publish button and suddenly think "Oh, shit. What if I screwed something up?" It happens every time, no matter the story or review, no matter how much work we put into it. That feeling doesn't go away.

Nexus 4 posts you will want to read [From the Forums]

Half the fun of getting a new Android phone like the Nexus 4 is talking about it with others who got one as well. This is where forums come into play. A place where like minded folks can share tips and tricks, complain about the inevitable bugs, and generally chat it up about their new toy tool. Since it's pretty slow today, I spent the afternoon trawling through the Nexus 4 forums and ran across a couple threads you won't want to miss,

HTC Droid DNA bootloader unlock now available

When the HTC Droid DNA finally hit store shelves, Verizon had pulled the plug on the official bootloader unlock method via HTC's dev tools. Since then, the folks over at Android Police and RootzWiki have of course come up with a method to unlock it. The basic idea is that you modify the device so that it appears as an unbranded one, and it can then be unlocked via the official tools from HTC.

You'll need a computer, ADB and some patience but if you're willing to spend the time you'll have an unlocked bootloader on your Droid DNA.

Apps of the Week: Wreck-it Ralph, WordHero, Pizza Boy and more!

For those of you in the states, we hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Those of you outside the states... hope you had a great Thursday. We took the day off to come up with some great app picks for your enjoyment, regardless. We've got a couple of great games and some phone utilities for you to check out this week, so stick around after the break and see how we did.

Littlest Pet Shop hits Android

If you've got kids, chances are you've been exposed to the Littlest Pet Shop at some point. Little animals (duh) waiting to be adopted and cared for. My kids love the toys. Now I have to fork over my Android tablet (it's good on phones, too) for yet another game. Such is life.

Littlest Pet Shop is very much in the same vein as My Little Pony (which makes sense, given the back-end talent they have in common). You're charged with taking care of the pets, which means acquiring planes for them to live and play, food to eat, earn rewards and complete quests.

There's a good 105MB of data that has to be downloaded before you do anything. Then the cuteness begins. At least until your kid tries to work a $20 in-app purchase. Consider yourselves warned.

Puzzle game Quantro now offering online multiplayer

Quantro is a puzzle game that we wouldn't blame you if you thought was Tetris at first glance. There are plenty of these types of games out there so what makes this one special? Well now with its latest update, Quantro is offering both local and online multiplayer support -- the latter being in "open beta" now. You can join public lobbies to play against random opponents, or choose to create a private lobby with just friends that you invite.

You can grab a download of Quantro at the Google Play Store link above. If you need a quick primer on the basics of the game, you can take a look at the video below as well.

ZTE pushes its first Android 4.2 update to mid-range device

In a rather quick turn-around since the code has gone live, ZTE has just announced that it is pushing an Android 4.2 update to one of its devices. Interestingly enough, this update is pushing to a mid-range device only being sold in the Chinese market, the N880E. This device has a 4-inch WVGA screen, 1GHz processor and just 512MB of RAM, but ZTE has still given the green light to push the update. The N880E was one of the first devices in the world to ship with Android 4.1 (which was nearly stock as well), so in that regard it's fitting that this was the device chosen to receive the first 4.2 update as well.

This is an astonishingly quick update cycle that ZTE is operating on considering that even Nexus devices just received the update a couple of weeks ago, some of which likely still haven't pulled it down. We really wish more manufacturers out there could operate this quickly when it comes to software updates.

Announcing the winner of the HTC One X+ giveaway

About a week ago we set up a little giveaway in the Android Central forums, where a lucky person was going to win themselves a shiny new HTC One X+ from AT&T and AC. Today is the day when the contest was shut down, the numbers were randomized, and we picked a winner. Join me in congratulating i love storms for the awesome One X+ he has heading his way.

So, i love storms, enjoy that beauty and be sure to put the great camera on it to the test. I'm jealous!

Samsung launches flip phone with four cores and two screens for China

Samsung has never been shy about introducing outlandish new hardware, and so its latest high-end hardware for China shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. The Samsung SCH-W2013 sports a vintage flip phone chassis with up-to-date internals from the Korean manufacturer. Inside there's a 1.4GHz quad-core CPU, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD card. The screens are both 3.7-inch SuperAMOLED dealies at WVGA (800x480) resolution.

On the software side, it's powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and Samsung's TouchWiz UI; presumably both have been tweaked to accommodate the unusual form factor. Connectivity comes in the form of two SIM slots -- one for GSM, and one CDMA-flavored.

Even more outlandish is the fact that the W2013 is apparently designed for (and marketed by) actor and martial artist Jackie Chan. Engadget reports that the phone was unveiled at an elaborate charity concert, where Chan was on hand to collect his very own W2013. As for pricing, the phone is a luxury device, and so will reportedly run you somewhere in the region of $3,000 (yes, that's the correct number of zeroes).

What to watch out for if you're buying a cheap Android tablet today

Today's Black Friday in the U.S., and across the country, turkey-filled Americans will hitting the stores looking for bargains. If previous holiday sales are any indication, there are sure to be plenty of low-cost Android tablets looking to lure buyers in with the promise of a big-screen Android experience on the cheap.

Just because a tablet doesn't cost the earth, doesn't make it bad. The Nexus 7 has proved that you can get a decent Android-powered tablet without breaking the bank. Nevertheless, there are some things you'll want to watch out for if you want to avoid being sold a dud. We went through some of these points a few years back in a post-Christmas tablet guide, but it's time we brought it a bit more up-to-date.

HTC One X+ now available in Canada from TELUS

With the HTC One X+ having already been released across various regions, it's now time for launch in Canada. TELUS has now made available the re-vamped version of HTC's earlier premium handset, the One X. With a faster quad-core Tegra 3 CPU, 64GB of storage, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box and LTE, you can pick this one up for $130 with a new three-year contract or $650 outright. Head on over to the TELUS site to place your order or pick one up in store. If you're not sure what the device is all about, go ahead and check out our full review of the European version.

Another option out there is Nokia's DT910 wireless charging stand. It's also fairly expensive at $69, but it looks and acts more like a traditional dock, leaving your phone standing up, so you can still see what's going on while it charges.

Black Friday Android app sale round-up [updating]

Black Friday is upon us, and the thrashing mobs are either stampeding the malls or pounding the F5 key on their favorite retail sites. We're keeping an eye on Google Play to see what prices have been slashed. Let us know in the comments if you find any more!

Interestingly, Samsung has combined multi-view with its windowed app support, allowing multiple smaller versions of certain Samsung and Google apps to be run in windowed mode, in addition to being docked side-by-side in full screen mode.

Other additions include "easy clip," which lets you tag image cut-outs on the screen and copy them to the clipboard, various improvements to the S Note application, and an updated version of Photoshop Touch.

As the updated software is based upon Android 4.1, it also includes the standard Jelly Bean features we've come to know, including Google's "Project Butter" performance enhancements, and predictive search through Google Now.